MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Drake Palmer]

Thanks for the updates Pops!

Seth Jonker for the Carlies goes off - 10-11FGA, 1-2 3FGA, 4-6 FTs, 25 points. Cold-blooded. Best post player footwork in the league, or close.   

[piperinsider]

Jonker was impressive at times at Hamline, especially early in the game. He really doesn't look like a basketball player, but he is a very solid post who knows how to move around on the low block with the ball.

Gustavus            5-0   7-3
St. Thomas    4-0   8-1
Saint John's    4-1   7-3
Augsburg            3-2   8-2
Concordia            3-3   7-4
Hamline    3-3   7-4
Saint Mary's    2-3   4-6
St. Olaf            2-3   4-6
Carleton            2-4   6-5
Bethel            1-4   5-5
Macalester    0-6   2-9

Back in the hunt for a playoff spot and maybe even something like fourth....who's next? St. Mary's. What's that mean? Bad news for the Cardinals 

[huhoops]

Happy to see HU could pull one out at Robertson. Judging by the write ups, sounds like they were lucky to sneak out of there with a win, to say the least.

Congrats to Carleton on the much needed W in Winona. Drake, not a bad call on Jonker at all. Him and Rossett are both tough guards when their perimeter games are on.

Poor MAC. Poor, poor MAC.

Nice W for Auggie. Concordia has been pesky this year early but I just don't think their guards are good enough to handle the SJU/UST/AUG type guards for entire games. Could be wrong though.

Happy to see Mark Torell having a breakout year for STO. He definitely seems to be a major contributor in their early "success". Unfortunately, I don't know how capable STO is of playing better basketball. They will have nights where they hit a lot of their jumpers, which will keep them in games. On the whole, I don't see them competing with the top of the conference consistently. Still, good win for SJU.

[huhoops]

Happy to see HU could pull one out at Robertson. Judging by the write ups, sounds like they were lucky to sneak out of there with a win, to say the least.

Congrats to Carleton on the much needed W in Winona. Drake, not a bad call on Jonker at all. Him and Rossett are both tough guards when their perimeter games are on.

Poor MAC. Poor, poor MAC.

Nice W for Auggie. Concordia has been pesky this year early but I just don't think their guards are good enough to handle the SJU/UST/AUG type guards for entire games. Could be wrong though.

Happy to see Mark Torell having a breakout year for STO. He definitely seems to be a major contributor in their early "success". Unfortunately, I don't know how capable STO is of playing better basketball. They will have nights where they hit a lot of their jumpers, which will keep them in games. On the whole, I don't see them competing with the top of the conference consistently. Still, good win for SJU.

****Meant to say "tough to guard"****

[VOJ]

Thanks for the updates Pops!

Seth Jonker for the Carlies goes off - 10-11FGA, 1-2 3FGA, 4-6 FTs, 25 points. Cold-blooded. Best post player footwork in the league, or close.   

hmmm interesting you hold Jonker in such high esteem...I think he is ok, productive, and he took advantage of the situation against SMU, they allow the most points and teams don't struggle to get good looks at the hoop.  His other 20 point game was against UMAC power Bethany Lutheran. 

Give the Oles alot of credit, they got down 11-0 last night, battled back to take a 16-15 lead, Johnnies went on a run to go up 10, and again St. Olaf rallied...it was like that most of the night, in fact the Js went up by 17 in the second half.  Torrell is having an excellent year, Neville is really coming on, Fong was back in the line up and played well, but forced some shots and seemed to go to the fade away maybe a little too much.  IF the seniors get to play during their senior campaign in two years, then yes St. Olaf could be a team that becomes a champion contender, but there's alot of time between now and then, maybe Torrell tearing it up will change things a little.

Auggies are a scary matchup for the J's...ultra quick guards all over the floor who can fill it up, struggled down the stretch against the Tommies but went to overtime against GAC.  After two straight road wins, a loss to Auggy or Concordia Moorhead would short circuit a real opportunity this week to get a solid foothold in the MIAC's top tier.

[AO]

Thanks for the updates Pops!

Seth Jonker for the Carlies goes off - 10-11FGA, 1-2 3FGA, 4-6 FTs, 25 points. Cold-blooded. Best post player footwork in the league, or close.   

hmmm interesting you hold Jonker in such high esteem...I think he is ok, productive, and he took advantage of the situation against SMU, they allow the most points and teams don't struggle to get good looks at the hoop.  His other 20 point game was against UMAC power Bethany Lutheran. 

is Macalester also a MIAC power?  both squads are winless in-conference, so.....

[piperinsider]

Thanks for the updates Pops!

Seth Jonker for the Carlies goes off - 10-11FGA, 1-2 3FGA, 4-6 FTs, 25 points. Cold-blooded. Best post player footwork in the league, or close.   

hmmm interesting you hold Jonker in such high esteem...I think he is ok, productive, and he took advantage of the situation against SMU, they allow the most points and teams don't struggle to get good looks at the hoop.  His other 20 point game was against UMAC power Bethany Lutheran. 

Give the Oles alot of credit, they got down 11-0 last night, battled back to take a 16-15 lead, Johnnies went on a run to go up 10, and again St. Olaf rallied...it was like that most of the night, in fact the Js went up by 17 in the second half.  Torrell is having an excellent year, Neville is really coming on, Fong was back in the line up and played well, but forced some shots and seemed to go to the fade away maybe a little too much.  IF the seniors get to play during their senior campaign in two years, then yes St. Olaf could be a team that becomes a champion contender, but there's alot of time between now and then, maybe Torrell tearing it up will change things a little.

Auggies are a scary matchup for the J's...ultra quick guards all over the floor who can fill it up, struggled down the stretch against the Tommies but went to overtime against GAC.  After two straight road wins, a loss to Auggy or Concordia Moorhead would short circuit a real opportunity this week to get a solid foothold in the MIAC's top tier.

I think DP was kidding about the best footwork in the league....hence the wink. Jonker is a solid player that like I said plays better than he looks. He almost surprises you that he is so nimble in the paint.

[Gacman]

Give the Oles alot of credit, they got down 11-0 last night, battled back to take a 16-15 lead, Johnnies went on a run to go up 10, and again St. Olaf rallied...it was like that most of the night, in fact the Js went up by 17 in the second half.  Torrell is having an excellent year, Neville is really coming on, Fong was back in the line up and played well, but forced some shots and seemed to go to the fade away maybe a little too much.  IF the seniors get to play during their senior campaign in two years, then yes St. Olaf could be a team that becomes a champion contender, but there's alot of time between now and then, maybe Torrell tearing it up will change things a little.

For as athletic and as talented as he is, I'm not sure that Fong is the player that will help elevate STO to that upper tier of the MIAC. He is 21-89 on 3's so far for his career, and his overall fieldgoal percentage is under 40%. Those are terrible numbers for someone who is supposed to be your best player. He also lacks some Basketball IQ and intangibles it takes to be a leader of a team. Forcing and taking a lot of bad shots is not the formula that will help your team win. He is unbelievably athletic but that's about where his good qualities end at this point. If St. Olaf wants to be a contender for the conference tilte in a couple of years like a few say they have a chance to do, they will do it because of their future classes coming in and meshing with the 2012 class. They won't be doing it alone.

[huhoops]

Give the Oles alot of credit, they got down 11-0 last night, battled back to take a 16-15 lead, Johnnies went on a run to go up 10, and again St. Olaf rallied...it was like that most of the night, in fact the Js went up by 17 in the second half.  Torrell is having an excellent year, Neville is really coming on, Fong was back in the line up and played well, but forced some shots and seemed to go to the fade away maybe a little too much.  IF the seniors get to play during their senior campaign in two years, then yes St. Olaf could be a team that becomes a champion contender, but there's alot of time between now and then, maybe Torrell tearing it up will change things a little.

For as athletic and as talented as he is, I'm not sure that Fong is the player that will help elevate STO to that upper tier of the MIAC. He is 21-89 on 3's so far for his career, and his overall fieldgoal percentage is under 40%. Those are terrible numbers for someone who is supposed to be your best player. He also lacks some Basketball IQ and intangibles it takes to be a leader of a team. Forcing and taking a lot of bad shots is not the formula that will help your team win. He is unbelievably athletic but that's about where his good qualities end at this point. If St. Olaf wants to be a contender for the conference tilte in a couple of years like a few say they have a chance to do, they will do it because of their future classes coming in and meshing with the 2012 class. They won't be doing it alone.

It really just boils down to lack of depth. They have all the components of a really solid first group (now and down the road) but they have no fire power after their top 6, maybe 7(if you include Weber). Jaryan is the best on the ball defending point guard in the conference, as well as the quickest/fastest. Torell and Wheelock are your shooters (Torell can do a lot more than Wheelock, but is most effective as a spot up shooter). With Fong, shot selection is an issue, but not so much to the point that he isn't a huge factor for STO. His physical variables make him a threat to do a lot of things that just can't be taught. Krosschell is a pretty underrated PF as well. He crashes the boards relentlessly and rarely makes high impact mistakes. Weber is obviously strictly a shooter with limited skills but a kid who can kill you if you lose track of him. Lastly, Neville could be a super stud in the MIAC. He is as tall and has a similar wingspan to HU's Carl Hipp but shoots jumpers like Dirk Nowitski    but seriously, he hasn't even scratched the surface of his potential IMO.

This is the extent of the STO team as I understand it, so as Gacman said, there will need to be some additions made to beef up their rotation if they have any hope to make a conference championship run in years soon to come.

[Gacman]

Especially since they lose their leading scorer in Torell after this year.

[Drake Palmer]

Thanks PI.  Glad to know that someone can appreciate nuance. Sheesh. +K

The kid, Jonker, had a fantastic shooting game,  10-11 from the field.  That's outstanding, even if he's not a Johnnie or Tommie. Do I think he's the best post player in the league –no, not at all.  However, I think both he and Bryan Rosett are two solid, fundamentally sound, well-coached post players with very nice footwork.  Hamline's Carl Hipp would be a monster if he had their footwork & moves.

Two of my other favorite undersized post players in recent years were UST's Al McCoy & GAC's Phil Sowden.  It was always fun watching them go to work in the paint.

As others have posted, one could make a real strong case for a midyear, if not final MVP for another undersized post – SJU's Aaron Burtzel.  He's crafty, quick, a tough competitor & has got that left handed thing working in his favor.  (I think this is the acknowledgment or tip of the hat that VOJ was angling to get.  ) VOJ  - I like the kid, he's a stud, but I've only seen him play once so far this year.  I just happened to see Jonker play over the weekend, & his footwork reminded me of another dancing bear that used to twirl around in the lane.
***
Ditto what everyone else has been saying about the Oles.  In spite of how much talent they seem to assemble, they always seem to end up playing a style of ball that's generally not very enjoyable to watch.  Having said that, it was nice to see Bobby Fong back in the lineup last night and, not struggling with his shot.  I think that was his first decent shooting night in well over a year.

[papahoops]

Its nice to see a little love being shown to the Oles on the board. They usually don't get much attention.
They typically play great D, but are often offensively challenged. I am alway surprised at how few of their players shoot a good percentage. They have looked much better this year due to a breakout year by Mark Torrell, who has been the consistent scorer they have lacked in recent years. Speaking of mid-year MVP "consideration" what would the Oles look like without him this year .

[VOJ]

Thanks PI.  Glad to know that someone can appreciate nuance. Sheesh. +K

The kid, Jonker, had a fantastic shooting game,  10-11 from the field.  That's outstanding, even if he's not a Johnnie or Tommie. Do I think he's the best post player in the league –no, not at all.  However, I think both he and Bryan Rosett are two solid, fundamentally sound, well-coached post players with very nice footwork.  Hamline's Carl Hipp would be a monster if he had their footwork & moves.

Two of my other favorite undersized post players in recent years were UST's Al McCoy & GAC's Phil Sowden.  It was always fun watching them go to work in the paint.

As others have posted, one could make a real strong case for a midyear, if not final MVP for another undersized post – SJU's Aaron Burtzel.  He's crafty, quick, a tough competitor & has got that left handed thing working in his favor.  (I think this is the acknowledgment or tip of the hat that VOJ was angling to get.  ) VOJ  - I like the kid, he's a stud, but I've only seen him play once so far this year.  I just happened to see Jonker play over the weekend, & his footwork reminded me of another dancing bear that used to twirl around in the lane.
***
Ditto what everyone else has been saying about the Oles.  In spite of how much talent they seem to assemble, they always seem to end up playing a style of ball that's generally not very enjoyable to watch.  Having said that, it was nice to see Bobby Fong back in the lineup last night and, not struggling with his shot.  I think that was his first decent shooting night in well over a year.

I was not looking for a tip of the cap for Burtzel, having WW sing his praises is enough for me   .  Drake take the hour+ drive and come to the Auggy-Johnnies game tonight, it should be a good one, if not the matchup of the night in the conference.

[Willy Wonka]

Thanks PI.  Glad to know that someone can appreciate nuance. Sheesh. +K

The kid, Jonker, had a fantastic shooting game,  10-11 from the field.  That's outstanding, even if he's not a Johnnie or Tommie. Do I think he's the best post player in the league –no, not at all.  However, I think both he and Bryan Rosett are two solid, fundamentally sound, well-coached post players with very nice footwork.  Hamline's Carl Hipp would be a monster if he had their footwork & moves.

Two of my other favorite undersized post players in recent years were UST's Al McCoy & GAC's Phil Sowden.  It was always fun watching them go to work in the paint.

As others have posted, one could make a real strong case for a midyear, if not final MVP for another undersized post – SJU's Aaron Burtzel.  He's crafty, quick, a tough competitor & has got that left handed thing working in his favor.  (I think this is the acknowledgment or tip of the hat that VOJ was angling to get.  ) VOJ  - I like the kid, he's a stud, but I've only seen him play once so far this year.  I just happened to see Jonker play over the weekend, & his footwork reminded me of another dancing bear that used to twirl around in the lane.
***
Ditto what everyone else has been saying about the Oles.  In spite of how much talent they seem to assemble, they always seem to end up playing a style of ball that's generally not very enjoyable to watch.  Having said that, it was nice to see Bobby Fong back in the lineup last night and, not struggling with his shot.  I think that was his first decent shooting night in well over a year.

I was not looking for a tip of the cap for Burtzel, having WW sing his praises is enough for me   .  Drake take the hour+ drive and come to the Auggy-Johnnies game tonight, it should be a good one, if not the matchup of the night in the conference.

As I said before, I've never seen Burtzel play. If I try hard enough, I can almost convince myself that he doesn't really exist. That's the only thing that allows me to praise a Johnnie without feeling tainted.

What? That doesn't make sense? Welcome to the world inside my head 

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

All the earlly talk about MVP is interesting. While I will agre that Burtzel is putting up some solid numbers, let's hold off annointing him till he's battled thru the top tier teams (Augs, GAC, UST).  His numbers at this point are slighlty better than those of Fraase, who has tangled with those 3 teams. Not a knock on Burtzel, whose play I simply love (anybody who would have gone to old St. Boniface High if it were still open is good in my book), but a caveat that his toughest games are still ahead of him.

Fraase's stats are solid, and worthy of consideration, too, at this point. Hurting him is Cord's record.  Torrel has been sizzling offensively and is a key reason for the Ole's success to date, but unless they contend for the top 4 spots, I dont see him as MVP (Player of the Year maybe).

One name that has not been thrown out for MVP that should be talked about is Cassens. His individual stats do not blow you away, but if you watch the Augs, you see that he is the man they look to on the floor for leadership and inspiration. When push comes to shove, he is the one who leads them. Monday, when Cord pulled close, Cassens promptly dropped in 3 LONG threes and dished out a few clutch assists. Result? A 12-0 run that broke Cord's spirirt and effectively wrapped up the game.

At this point, Id say the leading candidates (in no particular order) for MVP are Burtzel, Cassens and Fraase. A second tier consisting of Wright, Torrel, Nicolai, Dave Olson and Hipp, all of whom could easily move up into the MVP race.